Opportunities for the smallholder sandalwood industry in ... - ACIAR

400
350
Heartwood production (tonnes)
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
2010 2020
Year
2030
Figure 10. Broad estimates of heartwood production in Vanuatu, 2010–30 (Source: Averages of informal industry
estimates and data on level of sandalwood planting—see Figure 9)
province of Tafea (Tanna, Aniwa, Futuna, Erromango
and Aneityum). Although 81% of the smallholders
interviewed in this study indicated that they had sufficient
seeds for their sandalwood planting goals, seed
availability in the northern islands is highly restricted:
all smallholders interviewed from the three northern
islands (Santo, Pentecost and Malekula) indicated
that they had insufficient sandalwood seed for their
planting goals. The higher price for sandalwood
seed originating in the northern compared with the
southern islands (Table 3) reflects the higher quality
heartwood oils and the more pronounced shortage of
seeds from trees of the northern islands.
Although the volumes of sandalwood seed in the
Vanuatu marketplace have not been quantified, it is
estimated that seed available in the open marketplace
from wild stands may reach approximately 125,000
(~35 kg) per year. With approximately 100,000 plants
established in smallholdings between 2000 and 2006,
this number may be sufficient to meet current planting
rates. It appears, however, that the seed collection and
distribution networks may not be sufficient to ensure
that all existing local seed demands are met. The bulk
of the seed originating in the south does not appear to
be traded widely, since a substantially lower number
of seedlings was planted in Efate or the northern
islands than in the southern islands (Figure 8).
There is a need to develop seed orchards and
exploit the improved grafted clones selected largely on
elevated levels of α- and β-santalol (Page et al. 2008).
Establishing clonal seed orchards based on improved
selections has the capacity to rapidly increase the
available seed to meet existing high demand. The
grafted seed orchards established by the end of 2013
have the capacity to attain peak seed production of
1,000 seeds per tree within 3 years. It is expected
that the trees established with seed from the grafted
seed orchard will attract a 50% premium value for
their quality, based on existing price differences
between S. austrocaledonicum and S. album. This
price premium will provide additional value to these
plantings and result in higher smallholder incomes
than using wild-sourced seedlings alone. With new
smallholder plantings providing an additional source
of seed within 3–4 years of establishment, the annual
sandalwood seed supplies may be estimated to be 3.5
and 11.6 million seeds by 2020 and 2025, respectively.
The limited availability of planter bags, particularly
for smallholders, is also an important constraint
to industry development. Boxes of planter bags
(~6,000 units) are often not available in the major
centres of Luganville and Port Vila, since they are
often pre-sold before importation to relatively
wealthy urban wage earners, who have planting
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